Back to Antarctica 2022 Season Update

Back to Antarctica 2022 Season Update

2022 Season Update

09/01/2022

After a difficult couple of years away from Port Lockroy and the other sites we care for, we are delighted to have a small team in Antarctica for a few weeks this season to carry out an urgent assessment of the buildings ahead of winter.

Your support has enabled this essential work to take place. Thanks to your generosity we can once again look to protecting, weather-proofing and conserving some of Antarctica’s most unique and noteworthy heritage sites.

The team carrying out this work is Lucy Dorman and Kit Adams - both bringing a wealth of experience having worked at Port Lockroy previously - and Conservation Carpenter Tank Adams. They will carry out urgent repairs to the building fabric, paint walls and strengthen doors and windows. They will also be laying a power cable to connect Bransfield House to the solar array installed on the Nissen Hut and will install a new weather station funded by our Big Give campaign. Our team will also be handling post - undoubtedly a wonderful moment to be able to see the post office operating after such a long absence.

 

(Pictured left to right: pre-departure training; Kit, Lucy and Tank on training day; Kit tackling the obligatory packing!) 
Building and Conservation Manager Ruth Mullett and Lead Carpenter Geoff Cooper will later join the team in February, we hope, with the support of HMS Protector. Ruth and Geoff will focus on sites that have not been visited by UKAHT for several years to undertake condition inspections and make emergency repairs. On their list are Detaille, Damoy, Wordie House, Horseshoe and Stonington.

This season undoubtedly looks very different to seasons pre-2020, but we look forward to carrying out much needed conservation work as we begin to navigate our way back to some sort of normality, or indeed a new normal, for Port Lockroy and the other fascinating sites that we care for.

Follow the team's progress on social media using #BacktoAntarctica